Carton



N. D. ELLIS Aug. 16, 1966 CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 16, 1964 [NVEA fak: Maya 1). a L /5 M w wpw flvrgp/ws'ya'.

United States Patent 3,266,708 CARTON Nicholas 1). Ellis, Ladue, Mm, assignor to Anheuser- Busch, incorporated, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Sept. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 396,833 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-37) This invention relates to an improved carton formed of relatively inexpensive material, such as corrugated board, and designed for multiple use in shipping and storing relatively heavy articles, such as beer.

In the past, beer cartons have been made from relatively heavy and expensive fibreboar d of heavier and stronger materials, such as wood, for multiple trip use. Corrugated board with expensive reinforcements have also been used, but corrugated board has primarily been used in connection with one trip cartons.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive multiple trip carton which can be erected, loaded, and closed on high speed automatic equipment. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multiple trip carton made from one piece of corrugated board and reinforced in certain critical areas with kraft liner to obtain maximum strength at certain points of weakness to provide more trips per unit cost of the carton and of the erecting, loading and closing procedures. Another object is to provide a carton of corrugated board whose open top portion can be completely closed by only two side cover flaps and which can be lifted by one hand inserted in an end wall handhole without rupturing the end wall.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

The present invention is embodied in a carton made from the corrugated board and reinforced at points along its upper inner surface with kraft liner, said kraft liner reinforcing the hinge and side and end cover flanges of the side cover flaps, said kraft liner also reinforcing the up per portion of the end wall and end reinforcing flap of said carton.

The invention also consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed. In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification and wherein like numerals and symbols refer to like parts whereaver they occur:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a carton blank embody ing the present invention, with the inside surface shown,

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view toward one end of said carton after it has been erected,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of said carton showing one side cover flap in open position,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the end wall showing the details of the notch therein and the handhole, and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a blank embodying a modified form of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention which has been illustrated comprises a blank B made from a single piece of substantially rectangular corrugated board with the corrugations extending in the direction of the arrow A shown in FIG. 1.

The carton blank B shown in FIG. 1 may be rotary cut to reduce cost. The corrugated material is of about 275 pounds strength with a kraft liner L secured thereto of about 42 pounds strength. However, it is to be understood that these strengths may be varied within limits without departing from the present invention. The kraft liner L is preferably glued to the upper portion of the blank B to form a unitized or one-piece construction.

,; weaves Ice Patented August 16, 1966 The carton blank B is provided with longitudinal scores or fold lines 1, 2, and 3. The blank B is also provided with transverse or vertical score lines 1 which form the vertical corners of the carton C, and vertical score lines 5, which are slightly offset from the score lines 4 about /8 inch and form the upper end or transverse edges of the carton C. The carton C is provided with two side walls 6, two end walls 7 and a manufacturers flap M, defined along their vertical edges by the scores 4. The side walls 6 each have a side bottom flap 8 hinged thereto along the bottom score 1 and a side cover flap 9 hingedly secured thereto along the upper score 2. Each end wall 7 has an end bottom flap 10 hingedly connected thereto along the bottom score 1 and an end reinforcing flap 11 hingedly secured thereto along the upper score 2. Each end wall 7 is provided with a handhole 12 having a handhole flap 13 hinged along an upper score or edge 14. The end reinforcing flap 11 is adapted to be rebent along the upper score 2 to be placed in juxtaposition with the inner surface of the end wall 7 so that its handhole 15 is in registering relation with the end wall handhole 12. The end wall 7 and end reinforcing flap 11 each have a notch 16 in the center of their upper edge, said notch 16 preferably having projections 17 thereon, as will be explained.

Each side cover flap 9 is provided with a longitudinal side cover flange 18 and two end cover flanges 19, said cover flanges 18 and 19 being perpendicular to the side cover flap 9 and secured in said perpendicular portion by reason of the tabs 20 on the end cover flanges 19, which tabs 20 are secured to the inner face of the side cover flange 18. The cover flanges 18 and 19 are adapted to flt into the notches 16 when the carton is in its erected and closed position. The score lines 5 are offset from the score lines 4 to make the side cover flaps 9 slightly longer so that the turned down end cover flanges 19 move downwardly past the outer surface of the end walls 7 and do not strike the top edge of the end walls 7.

As best shown in FIG. 1 the carton blank B is provided with a wide strip of kraft liner L which extends throughout the length of the carton blank B in the upper portion 21 thereof and is adhesively secured to the inner face 22 thereof. The carton blank B is about 55 /8 inches wide and about 21% inches high with the kraft liner L extending downwardly from the top edge of the blank about 9% inches. Therefore, the kraft liner L occupies less than half the height of the carton blank B or about the upper 42% thereof. The kraft liner L reinforces the entire upper portion of the carton, particularly along the upper portions of the end walls 7 which then have four thicknesses when erected, there being two inner thicknesses of the corrugated board from the end wall 7 and end reinforcing flap 11. The kraft liner L also reinforces the score line 2 which connects the side cover flaps 9 to the side walls 6.

The kraft liner L also reinforces the inner surface of the side cover flanges 18, the end cover flanges 19, and the tabs 20 which connect the cover flanges 18 and 19 so that there are four or six thicknesses of material at the vertical corners of the side cover flaps 9 near the notches 16. The kraft liner L reinforces each portion of each side cover flap 9 and its flanges 18 and 19 at the critical areas so that the covers fit snugly within the notches 16 and aid in strengthening the end walls 7 when the carton C is lifted by one hand by the handhole 12 in one end wall 7. The double reinforcement supplied by the kraft liner L in the end wall 7 resists bowing, but should some bowing of the end wall 7 occur, then the reinforced flanges 18 and 19 of the side cover flaps 9 are sufficiently strong to aid in resisting further bowing of the end wall 7.

In the erected position, suitable fastening means are used. Preferably, the end bottom flaps 10 are glued to the inner surfaces of the side bottom flaps 8, the end reinforcing flaps 11 are glued to the inner surfaces of the end walls 7, and the outer surfaces of the tabs 20 are glued to the inner end portions of the side cover flanges 18. The manufacturer's flap M is preferably stapled to the edge of the end wall 7 to maintain the four walls 6 and 7 in their perpendicular position.

The present corrugated board carton C with kraft liner reinforcement provides a carton which is sufficiently strong and rigid to be used for a number of trips in the ordinary course of the beer business. Such a carton made from the materials hereinbefore described will average three to five trips, although there will be unusual circumstances which might cause a carton to be unusable after one or two trips or perhaps be usable even after five trips. The present carton can be erected with automatic equipmentwhich holds the side cover flaps in open position for inserting the separate partition member and 24 bottles of beer. Only two cover flaps must be closed in order to close the carton, thereby saving labor costs over cartons having two side cover flaps and two end cover flaps. These latter four cover flap cartons require extra labor and are usually returned with the four cover flaps interlocked, thereby creating stacking problems as well as depalletizing problems, since the flaps sometime interlock with the flaps of adjacent cartons or spring open and become wedged in a vertical position between cartons on the next higher level, thereby preventing the automatic de-palletizing equipment from functioning properly without jamming. In the past, when cartons have been made from corrugated board of the same or about the same strength as the corrugated board used with the present invention, either the carton was a one trip or non-returnable carton in which it was not as important to prevent rupture at the handhole, even though such is always undesirable, or the cover was formed from four flaps thereby requiring extra labor and losing the advantages of having a two side cover flap arrangement for completely closing the top of the carton.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIG. wherein the carton blank B is provided with two strips of kraft liner -L-2 and L-3 which extend throughout the length of the carton blank B. The upper strip L-2 is about 2% inches high and reinforces the side cover flanges 18, the tabs 20, and the end portions of the end cover flanges 19. The central strip L-3 is about 3% inches high and reinforces the upper score line 2 and the upper portions of the end walls 7 and end reinforcing flaps 11, so that the top portion of each end wall has four thicknesses of material in it. The lower edge of the central strip L-3 also acts to reinforce the handhole 12, as does the lower edge of the kraft liner L as shown in FIG. 1. Other than the use of two narrower strips L2 and L-3 in place of the wider one-piece kraft liner L, the modified form shown in FIG. 5 is identical to that shown in FIG. 1.

This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A substantially rectangular unitized carton blank made from about 275 pounds corrugated board in which the corrugations extend vertically in the two side walls and in the two end walls, said side walls each having a side cover flap with a hinge therebetween, each of said side cover flaps having a side cover flange and end cover flanges secured thereto, so that each side cover flap has a flange along three sides thereof, an end reinforcing flap hingedly secured to the top of each end wall, a notch in the central upper margin of each end wall and end reinforcing flap, registering handholes in said end walls and end reinforcing flaps, said carton being reinforced at points along its inner surface with about a 42 pound kraft liner, said kraft liner extending downwardly from the top edge of the blank to a line adjacent to the top of the handholes in said end walls and covering the upper portion of said blank and reinforcing the hinge between said side walls and said side cover flaps and reinforcing said cover flanges, said kraft liner increasing the number of thicknesses of material in the end wall and end reinforcing flap to strengthen said carton and the top of said handhole and resist bending in the end wall when said blank is folded and lifted with one hand after said carton has been fully loaded.

2. A substantially rectangular unitized, carton blank made from about 275 pounds corrugated board in which the corrugations extend vertically in the two side walls and in the two end walls, said side walls each having a side cover flap with a hinge therebetween, each of said side cover flaps having a side cover flange and end cover flanges secured thereto, so that each side cover flap has a flange along three sides thereof, an end reinforcing flap hingedly secured to the top of each end wall, a notch in the central upper margin of each end wall and end reinforcing flap, a handhole in each end wall and end reinforcing flap, said carton being reinforced at points along its inner surface with two relatively narrow strips of about 42 pounds kraft liner extending the entire length of said blank, one of said kraft liners extending downwardly from the top edge of the blank and reinforcing said cover flanges, the other of said Kraft liners reinforcing the hinge between said side wall and its side cover flap and increasing the number of thicknesses of material in the end wall and end reinforcing flap, the bottom edge of said last mentioned kraft liner being positioned adjacent to the top of said handhole, said kraft liners thereby strengthening the carton when erected and the top of said handhole to resist bending when said blank is folded and lifted with one hand after said carton has been fully loaded.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,524,292 1/1925 Dinsmoor 22949 2,123,771 7/1938 Crowell 229-49 X 2,727,676 12/ 1955 Tilly 229-37 2,933,228 4/1960 Guyer 22949 X 2,967,608 1/1961 Linker et al. 22949 X 2,994,468 8/1961 George et al.

3,118,592 1/1964 Nadeau 229-44 GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR UNITIZED CARTON BLANK MADE FROM ABOUT 275 POUNDS CORRUGATED BOARD IN WHICH THE CORRUGATIONS EXTEND VERTICALLY IN THE TWO SIDE WALLS AND IN THE TWO END WALLS, SAID SIDE WALLS EACH HAVING A SIDE COVER FLAP WITH A HINGE THEREBETWEEN, EACH OF SAID SIDE COVER FLAPS HAVING A SIDE COVER FLANGE AND END COVER FLANGES SECURED THERETO, SO THAT EACH SIDE COVER FLAP HAS A FLANGE ALONG THREE SIDES THEREOF, AN END REINFORCING FLAP HINGEDLY SECURED TO THE TOP OF EACH END WALL, A NOTCH IN THE CENTRAL UPPER MARGIN OF EACH END WALL AND END REINFORCING FLAP, REGISTERING HANDHOLES IN SAID END WALLS AND END REINFORCING FLAPS, SAID CARTON BEING REINFORCED AT POINTS ALONG ITS INNER SURFACE WITH ABOUT A 42 POUND KRAFT LINER, SAID KRAFT LINER EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE TOP EDGE OF THE BLANK TO A LINE ADJACENT TO THE TOP OF THE HANDHOLES IN SAID END WALLS AND COVERING THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID BLANK AND REINFORCING THE HINGE BETWEEN SAID 